Stephanie Wemm, a doctoral student in Clinical Psychology,
has received a prestigious National Research Service Award from the National
Institute on Drug Abuse. This pre-doctoral fellowship will support Stephanie’s
research on the psychological and biological processes in behavioral addictions
and substance abuse in the laboratory of Dr. Elga Wulfert.

Stephanie’s grant entitled “The impact of stress on steroid
hormones and cue reactivity in smokers and gamblers” seeks to identify common
psychological and biological processes that occur in both behavioral and
substance addictions. The research will compare how smokers and gamblers react
to a challenging academic task, and how they subsequently respond to either
smoking-related or gambling-related items. These findings may contribute to the
treatment of addictive disorders by exploring ways to promote a more healthy
response to difficult life situations, as well as identifying people that
may be more at risk for relapse. As part of the fellowship, Stephanie will be
trained in state-of-the-art mass spectrometry techniques for the analysis of
hormones. She will also take advanced courses in addictive behaviors,
statistical methods, and biological processes.